These Lines Make An Arrow
by Eternal Love Song
Summary: Everyone knows you can't be in love with two people at the same time. So Momo picks one, only that doesn't seem to solve her problem.


Momo was in her second year when she realized that she had a crush on Bakugo. They were both early risers and often ended up together in the morning, chatting as they made their breakfast and slowly drifting apart as their separate friend groups trickled in. It was after a late night where she'd stayed up studying the components of a specific weapon that she was hoping to create and showed up to the common room later than usual, bleary eyed and yawning. She was too tired to even make herself breakfast and wasn't sure she had enough time to do so anyway.

It was a small gesture, quiet. Bakugo sat a mug of hot chocolate in front of her and said softly, "Get it together, Ponytail."

She didn't even get to say thank you before he had walked away. It was only as he walked away that she felt her cheeks heating him and her heart faster and realized what all those small moments had been leading to.

Her crush on Todoroki was less sudden. It had been slowly building since they worked together first year, building as they spent more time together, fought together, and worked together. From admiration, to friendship and trust, to longing, until she found herself creating charms of snowflakes and fireballs without meaning to when thinking of him and the meaning hit her all at once.

"Are you okay?" Todoroki was leaning into her space, causing her to jump and press her hands over her arms where the silver of a snowflake charm was catching the light. "Yaoyorozu?"

"I-I'm fine!" she answered quickly. "Just... lost in thought."

It wasn't strange that she would develop a crush on Todoroki. It was however very odd, to her at least, that she would develop a crush on someone while already head over heels with someone else.

She deliberated about these developments for a long time. What should she do? Who should she pick? Was she really in love with Todoroki if she was having these feelings for Bakugo?

The answer must have been no. If her heart really belonged to Todoroki, there wouldn't be any room in it for Bakugo. She must have cared more for Bakugo than Todoroki, and coming to that conclusion, it was her feelings for Bakugo that she acted on.

"Bakugo, would you go out with me?"

"The fuck?" Bakugo's reaction to her confession, swearing and looking at her as if she was insane, was pretty much what she expected. She remained calm as she repeated herself.

"I asked if you would go out with me."

He stared at her as if trying to read her mind, looked over her shoulder where the others were sitting in the common room, before meeting her eyes again and then turning away. "You don't mean that."

"But I do!" She took a step forward, reaching out to grab hold of his arm. "Please don't dismiss my feelings."

He was silent as he thought. Finally, he pulled his arm from her graps. "Don't come crying to me if you end up regretting this," he told her.

She smiled as relief spread through her. It was only as she followed him back to the others that she realized what he'd been looking at. Todoroki was watching them from the couch. Momo tried to push down the rapid thudding of her heart, telling herself that she'd made the right decision.

Dating Bakugo was pleasant. They often had breakfast together, he began showing up study sessions, and the already existing overlap in their friend groups lead to them easily spending more time together. Bakugo was sweet. As much as she liked to look over the class, he made it his business to look out for her. He scolded her when she pushed herself too hard, yelled at the others when he thought they were taking advantage of her, began to freely praise her when she made improvements in fighting on with her quirk.

Bakugo was much more affectionate than she would have thought. He had no problem throwing an arm around her when he was to cuddle, pulling her closer to him when they were sitting next to each other, or stealing her away from others when he wanted her time. He kissed her softly, gently handly her as though she was precious and breakable, while still presenting his rough image. He would crowd her into corner, sometimes slamming his arms on the walls around her when he wanted to make a show, but he was never actually rough with her. He kissed her anywhere and anytime, on the lips, on her cheek when he walked by, on her forehead, it made her feel and cared for. It was honestly amazing.

So it was... disappointing, and worrying, and... a host of other things that she couldn't completely name, that she couldn't forget or dismiss her feelings for Todoroki. She still found herself thinking of him longing, caught her heart racing when their eyes would meet, and blushing when they were close. It didn't make any sense. She couldn't be in love with two people! She just couldn't! Right?

In the end, it was Bakugo that approached her about it. He never hesitated to say what he felt, while she always took too long to work out her feelings. Still, she didn't expect it when he confronted him. She was staring at Todoroki without meaning to, something that she tried to stop herself from doing especially when around her boyfriend, and so her eyes were on the other boy when Bakugo asked, "You have feelings for him, right?"

Her eyes were wide when she turned to him. "What?"

"Half 'n Half," Bakugo clarified. "I knew it when you asked me out. I figured you'd figure it out eventually and choose him."

"What?" She sat up straighter. "How can you think that?"

"I'm not an idiot!" he snapped. "He's from the same high class background as you, he isn't loud and angry like I am, it's obvious, alright!"

"It's not... I wouldn't just... leave you for something like that," she argued.

"Yeah, not for that," he said. "But because you love him and you're trying to pretend that you don't by dating me."

She wasn't able to find her voice before he got up and stormed off. There was a lump in her throat and she choked on the false denial of her feeling that she wanted to make. She wanted to comfort him, to say that it was all untrue, but she couldn't. She could only watch as he stormed away. When her eyes met Todoroki's worried ones across the room, she couldn't stop herself from getting up and running off as well.

She didn't know what to do. She paced in the small space her room allowed as she tried to think. She'd thought that making a decision would fix her problem, but it didn't. Not only did her feeling for Todoroki not go away, they'd grown without her permission, and Bakugo knew. He'd always known, apparently. How could she fix this when she'd already been trying her hardest to fix it?

A knock on her door interrupted her contemplation. Her breath caught when she opened the door.

"Yaoyorozu, can I talk to you?" Todoroki asked.

"S-sure," she answered breathlessly. She moved aside to let him in. She felt the metal of snowflakes charms against her palms and hid her hands behind her back. She hated her tendency to nervously create and tried hard to stomp down on it.

"You and Bakugo are fighting." It wasn't really a question and he looked directly in her eyes as he said this.

She blushed, she couldn't help it, and her eyes drifted away from his. "What makes you think-"

"It's because of me, isn't it?" He asked.

For the second time today she was caught off guard. "What?"

"He glares whenever we spend time together," he went on. "I figured my feelings for you made him uncomfortable, but I didn't think he would take it out on you."

"Wait? You..."

Todoroki's expression was as blank as always, but the slow way he blinked at her gave away his confusion. "You didn't know?"

"I had no idea that you... had feelings for me?"

He nodded. "I thought you knew and just didn't feel the same way."

All this time she spent pushing her feelings down and Todoroki was doing the same. She wasn't sure what she should feel about this, but she couldn't stop the slow bloom of happiness in her chest. "How long? No, that doesn't matter. Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't want to come between you and Bakugo," he told her. "He seems to make you happy, so if you don't want to spend as much time with me, I'd understand."

"What if I wanted you to?" she asked slowly.

"What?"

"What if I wanted you to come between us?"

He tilted her head. "I don't understand."

"I'm sorry, I'm not making sense," she said. "I'm in love with Bakugo, I know that I am, but I... I'm in love with, too."

His eyes widened. "You do?" He stepped closer, reaching out for her hands.

She smiled at him, squeezing his hand, before pulling away. The smile slipped off her face as she began to pace again. "But you can't be in love with two people at the same time."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because... you just can't."

"But you are," he pointed out. "You just said so."

"But that's... it's not supposed to work that way!" she told him.

"Says who?"

"Everyone!" She slumped against the wall.

"I don't think everyone should have a say in how you feel," he told her quietly. "It should be between you and Bakugo."

"And what about you?" she asked sadly. "Shouldn't you have a say?"

"I just did," he told her. "I told you how I feel, it's up to what you want to do with. I wouldn't like it if you didn't want anything to do with me, but I'd deal with it. And I don't mind if you have feelings for both of us, because all I want is to make you happy, if I can."

"I... I meed to think about this," she said.

"I understand," he told her. "Just remember, I won't be upset if you decide not to see me as much. You're an important person to me, no matter what."

She opened the door to let Todoroki out and froze in surprise as she saw Bakugo leaning against the wall across from her door. "Bakugo..."

"You two are louder than you think you are," he said, pushing himself off the wall and approaching her with his hands in his pockets.

"I... This isn't..."

"I know," he said harshly, cutting her off. Todoroki put himself between them and Bakugo growled before turning his head to the side. "I was coming to apologize," he admitted. "I overreacted." He looked up, meeting Todoroki's gaze and then her own. "Then I heard the two of you talking and decided to wait."

She swallowed, bit her lip, and stepped around Todoroki. "Bakugo... I don't really really know what to say about all this. I meant what I said earlier, I don't plan to leave you, but..." She wasn't sure what to follow that up with.

"What do you want?" he asked her. "Be honest." His eyes saw right through her, she could feel it. She didn't shrink away from his gaze, though. Even with how uncertain she felt, she tried to be honest.

"I want... I want you both," she admitted quietly.

He looked at Todoroki. "You okay with that, Half 'n Half?"

Todoroki nodded. "Of course."

"Fine then," Bakugo said. He inhaled a large breath and blew it out harshly. "I don't fucking care that you have feelings for this idiot," Bakugo said. "I already knew that when you asked me out. It would be... really annoying to lose you to him, okay! But... I could consider this... a tie."

Todoroki's lips tugged upward, not quite a smile. "A tie."

"Yes, it's a fucking tie!"

"Wait," she said. "Bakugo, are you saying...?"

"Yes," he snapped. He took another deep breath, reaching out and pulling her closer. "I get it, you can't help having feelings for him. I don't care. I want it. I don't mind if I have to share you with that idiot. I was already doing that anyway."

Momo couldn't stop the tears that sprung to her eyes. She was touched, so deeply touched that he would be willing to do this for her. She threw her arms around his neck and embraced him tightly. "Oh, Bakugo, thank you!"

"Whatever," he said. He wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug. "Just, don't fucking hide things from me, Ponytail. That's all I want. I can't fucking help you when I don't know what's going on in your head."

"I promise," she told him. He released her and she turned to Todoroki, who was watching them silently. She approached him tentatively and he met her halfway, pulling her into a hug of her own and leaving her to pull him down into a kiss. It wasn't until they broke apart that Bakugo pushed them back toward her room.

"Ugh! Get a room you two!" He told them.

She blushed. "Bakugo!"

He smiled, shook his head. "You know where to find me," he told her. "I'll leave you alone for now." He met Todoroki's eyes, holding up a hand and causing an explosion as he closed his fist. "I'm sure I don't have to say anything, but you know what will happen if you screw this up and hurt her."

Todoroki nodded. "And so do you."

Bakugo grinned, sharp and vicious. "Good."

Momo felt warmth spreading through her. She didn't understand how she could be so lucky, but whoever said that you couldn't love two people at once were clearly mistaken.


End file.
